Pain and Depression

We all want to think of pleasant things, and for Americans, most days are comfortable, happy and often full of fun whether we work or not. We may complain about working, but face it, almost all our days are worth living. Contrast our lives with the Third World and we are surely blessed. However, we put their needs out of our minds and proceed with our own little world.
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Job (KJV) 14:22 “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.”
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On the other hand many in the world are filled with pain and depression. We all know that “pain” means that “I hurt”, but there are four types of pain: 1) physical , 2) mental, 3) spiritual and 4) perceived pain or having an active imagination. Examples of each are 1) a burn, 2) depression, 3) lack of hope and 4) the feeling that we are unloved and hopeless (despair). I separate “depression” from “despair” because science and the Bible both point toward clinical depression as a neurological disorder and despair as emotional depression.
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The overlap of these types of pain are what we see in Job 14:22. All pain has to do with “I hurt” and “My soul hurts”. If you're clinically depressed you get physically sick: nausea, headaches, weakness and a lack of will to live. It's a disease of body and soul. If you hurt or you're critically injured you physically hurt. However, many of us start thinking the “what if”... what if I had died. If your soul isn't right, you have spiritual pain. You don't want to miss the train to heaven. Spiritual pain can cause emotional depression. You get the same symptoms as with clinical depression, but your synapses are firing as they should. In the latter case pharmaceuticals won't help. You need an excellent elixir.
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Is there an elixir which can cure? We accept this cure for emotional and spiritual pain and we even pray for the elixir to help with physical pain. However, our little faith seems to limit this elixir. “It won't help our clinical depression” Of what elixir am I referring? Blood! It is the elixir that's the antidote to all ailments! It will heal the wounds, make the emotions joyous, give us hope for our spirit (and our body someday) and even will make our synapses fire as they should, healing clinical depression.
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Hebrews 9:22”And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
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Here's the blood cure: 1) The blood of Jesus is the sacrifice which saves us from eternal punishment (hope), 2) knowing that we are only in this world temporally we are emotionally high in anticipation (joy), 3) knowing what ails us is temporary we are content and functional (faith), and 4) our spiritual and emotional health leads us to believe in prayer (healing). God will heal our bodies, our minds and eliminates pain. We will still have our hurts, but it won't be more than we can bear... which means we can avoid depression!
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Matthew (KJV) 6:25 “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ... 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. “
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No, the Bible doesn't say that God won't give you more than you can handle! 1 Corinthians says that you won't be TEMPTED with more than you can handle! However, Matthew 6 tells us that God will provide, even for your body, but it's conditional! “seek ye first the kingdom of God”. Above, spiritual righteousness helping us with all pain is discussed. Those are the verses from which my information comes. We must first get right with God before we're joyous, happy, faithful and healed. We still face pain because it's part of the sentence inflicted upon us by Adam's sin. However, if we have any faith at all, and it's the will of God, then he can ease the pain, restore our health, remove the despair and offer us happiness and joy!
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Philippians (KJV) 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
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We are to pray “in every thing”. There is no issue that you can't take to God. Why would you even waste your time if you didn't think he would help? “Supplication” means to bring your requests “earnestly and urgently” to God. There is an attitude in which you pray. It's one of gratefulness! We must have “thanksgiving” all the time, not just one day each year! What we pray for are requests. They do need to be in God's will (as we know from the Lord's Prayer... “thy will be done”), and our requests need to be presented to God. He knows our needs, but God likes for us to commune with Him! He is a jealous God (Exodus 20).
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If you're not a Christian all prayers are in vain (of no consequence) except for one: “The Sinners Prayer”. There are many versions... use your own. 'Fess up! Ask forgiveness. Believe in Jesus. Accept his sacrifice he made for you. Live for Him. How simple! How few obey! In the end “every knee shall bow”. Bow yourself prostrate before the Lord right now.
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Or as most will do... we can just put hope out of mind by drugs, cakes and circuses.